May 26, 2015

If this
series of posts ends in what seems like one large evangelization of the Gospel,
perhaps that is what it is? It was my original intent to show a biblical view
of homosexuality in this series. I believe I have done that earlier in the body
of this work. The clear biblical view of homosexuality based on this series is
that homosexuality is a sin. Sin is something that needs to be forgiven and
that is only possible through repentance and acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ (Erickson 250, Grudem 695). A choice to repent is a choice to not sin.

The wrath
that a sin incurs from God is the exact thing that Jesus Christ came to earth
incarnate to placate or atone for (Enns 233-234, Erickson 253-254, Grudem
574-575). In the end, the proper way to view homosexuality is to view it as a
sin that needs to be stopped and repented of on an individual basis (not
culturally or in plurality), just as other sins. I am not downplaying its
sinful nature but nor am I going to build it up and say it is any worse than
adultery or other sexual sins. The bottom-line is that the only way to repent
of sin and gain salvation is through an individual choice to trust and believe
in Jesus Christ and His message. That message is best summed up by the Apostle
Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ~ "For I delivered
to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our
sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised
on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..."

Humans will
never stop sinning and the Bible shows us this clearly but sin should not have
dominion over a believer's life either (Grudem 748). We can make inroads with
the help of the Holy Spirit to become more holy but while we are in this flesh
(sanctification), we will never fully win the battle against sin (Romans 7). It
is one of the reasons men are appointed to die once and face judgment (Hebrews
9:27). It is the only way a person stops sinning.

In this
series we see with the utmost clarity the truth of the need for the Gospel and
the utilitarian nature of the Gospel not only for homosexuals but all sinners
regardless of race, gender or sexual inclination. The Gospel is the only answer
for our sins and the passage to eternal life. It covers the entire gamut of
sins in the Creation including fornication, idolatry, adultery, thievery,
covetousness, drunkenness, and of course homosexuality. It covers the sins of
all of those that repent and turn the Christ and His Gospel. What we end up
seeing is that the root of all depravity and sin including homosexuality starts
when we turn our back on God and ignore or avoid God (Romans 1:25) and the
Gospel. Our life and salvation comes by turning towards God and the Gospel of
Jesus Christ in obedience.

We Are To Be Representative of Christ

Even though
this series of posts has effectively argued for the unbiblical nature of
homosexuality this does not give license to Christians to maliciously malign
homosexuals and live up to the stereotype of overzealous hate-driven fanatics. We can easily use Leviticus 18 & 20’s references to
abomination, and wickedness to drive home the fact that God views homosexuality
negatively but there are gentler ways to reach the lost. Aggressive rhetorical
bludgeoning through the use of terms like abomination and perversion have been used
before to try and reach homosexuals and it wins few converts to Christianity.
It most often sends them sprinting or screaming in the other direction.
Although the words in Leviticus are absolutely true as is all of the Bible
(Inerrancy of Scripture), and the passages in Leviticus also immediately erect
a brick wall and cease dialogue between the two sides of this volatile issue.
Although I addressed Leviticus’ passages in this series, they were not the main
focus, nor did they need to be.

It’s no
different than if I were a doctor and I walked into my office and told someone,
"You have cancer, you're chances of survival are zero." Is it telling
the truth? Yes. Is it a proper way to do it? No! Where is the compassion for
people? Where is the mind of Christ? Sin is just as deadly as any cancer. Overcoming sin can be daunting for people,
especially if they have a lot of it in their life and have become conditioned
to accepting it by an immoral and promiscuous culture/society. Even if a person
converts, conversion does not guarantee instant sanctification as the sins in 1
Corinthians 6:9-11 clearly illustrates. People are often broken in stages one
sin at a time, anger, vanity, arrogance, adultery, homosexuality, etc. In the
case of some of these sins, it is an ongoing battle. Rhetorical bludgeoning is
counter-productive and ineffective. Judgment and wrath are to be left to God as
it is in His perfect judgment in His perfect righteousness if it would be
necessary. If Christians cannot explain to sinners the sin that they are
committing and why they will be condemned because of them, what good is being
aggressive and divisive to begin with?

We must
never forget that the focus of Scripture is on the following facts: (1) Sin is
an offense to Almighty God. (2) Those that are in this sin are enslaved to it
(Romans 1), which is consistent with what we see elsewhere in Scripture about
sin in general. (3) Those that are trapped in sin can be set free (1 Cor.
6:9-11). We're in the church are often very good at emphasizing that sin is
indeed an offense to God, and arguing over "choice" and the origin of
the sin. Unfortunately, we too often forget that people are enslaved to their
sin, and the enslaving power of sin. The result is that too often in the
church, we give the impression that people need to free themselves rather than
turning to Christ to set them free. We give that impression that their sin is
worse than ours when all sin is an affront to a holy God. We lose the
compassion of God for lost sinners who are in the throes of a sin they simply
can't defeat. In sight of this fact, we end up wasting time arguing over the
offensiveness to God (which most people internally know, but suppress it).
Thereby we give a twisted witness by our aggressive unpleasant behaviors rather
than preach the Gospel like we should.

It is clear
that most of the church may have missed the boat on this, both liberal and
conservative denominations. We have been tolerant of sexually suggestive
wardrobes, immoral media and adulterous heterosexual relationships when they
are all sins equally denounced by God. We tend to often turn a blind eye to
immoral heterosexual interactions and are dragging out the rhetoric and
verbosity when we see an infraction by homosexuals. Many churches then set
themselves in a real unhealthy position of hypocrisy and project a
double-standard to the world when they are found guilty of other sins common to
other people while simultaneously hammering on homosexual’s sin. We must
denounce all sin equally, not just certain sins unequally because we find
certain sins more repulsive.

Practicing Homosexuality is Still a Sin

The
bottom-line still remains. Forgiveness does not allow homosexuals (and other
sinners) license to pursue their sin recklessly in complete disregard of
Scripture (Romans 6:1-2). They will eventually receive in their own persons the
due penalty of their error (Romans 1:27). Sometimes the retribution for an
unrepentant and wicked life comes in this life, sometimes not. What the Bible
is clear on is that it will certainly come at our judgment if we do not repent.
In the end, we will all be judged for our sins whether we are straight, gay or
whatever. It behooves us to stop our sins now, not justify them and accept
them. We are to live our lives in an expectation that Christ could return
today. The more we sin without seeking repentance the more we will incur God’s
wrath on the Day of Judgment. We are to assume judgment can come at any time
and we are to be prepared for it by living biblical lives in accordance with
Scripture.

2 Peter
3:10-11 ~ But the day of the Lord will
come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the
elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will
be burned up. Since all these things are
to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy
conduct and godliness…?

2
Thessalonians 1:7-9 ~ …and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as
well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in
flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those
who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of
eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of
His power…

Romans
14:10-12 ~ But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you
regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment
seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow
to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then each one of us will
give an account of himself to God.